Mercurial's Master Summoner
Summary Mercurial, from the paizo messageboards, designed this build. The build is largely from Mercurial's post here . Much of the text of this page is from that post. Mercurial's Paladin - 1 Half-Elf Summoner (Master Summoner Archetype) The first Eldritch Heritage feat gives you a minor electrical ray attack which by that level is relatively useless, but the second one grants Electricity Resistance: 10 to all your summoned creatures AND +1d6 electrical damage to all of their natural attacks which is very nice. The third one gives you the ability to Fly at will (60', average manueverability). You could alternately choose one of the other elements for similar benfits but different travel modes - for me flight is a no-brainer. I've chosen Half-Elf for my race because 1) I intend on using an Eldritch Heritage feat line and Half-Elf gives you that requisite Skill Focus for free and 2) the favored class alternative for Half-Elven Summoners allows me to gain additional evolution points which are at a premium for this archetype's eidolon. Attributes '25 point build'' STR - 8 DEX - 14 CON - 14 INT - 12 WIS - 14 CHA - 16 (+2 racial bonus, +1 at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th)'' '20 point build'' STR - 8 DEX - 14 CON - 14 INT - 10 WIS - 12 CHA - 16 (+2 racial bonus, +1 at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th)'' '15 point build'' STR - 8 DEX - 14 CON - 12 INT - 10 WIS - 10 CHA - 16 (+2 racial bonus, +1 at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th)'' Skills From Mercurial: "Intimidate +1 every level Survival +1 every level Knowledge: Religion +1 every odd level Diplomacy +1 every even level I don't worry about Perception because pretty much everyone else in my party has it and mine would be the lowest anyway (Wisdom penalty). Diplomacy and Knowledge were taken because they are appropriate to a Paladin, but mine isn't especially good at it, having spent most of his life away from society fighting evil." Traits Focused Mind Reactionary Also, I recommend taking the Arcane Training alternative racial feat offered by half-elves. You won't be multi-classing, so an additional favored class does you no good. Spells The Pit spells are very under-rated in my opinion and the ability to Charm, Hold and Dominate Monsters can be a complete game-changer in some encounters. Staples like Haste, Transmogrify, Dispel Magic, Invisibility, Dimension Door and Teleport are all must-haves. During low levels Daze becomes your staple attack and can keep you out of trouble more often than you might think. Summon Swarm can be very potent in the right circumstances - foes without area of effect attacks are basically helpless against them and creatures with lower Fortitude saves can go down quickly from their poison. Eidolon There is a lot you can do with your eidolon, but for me I have found his best use is as a scout and pocket rogue. I start off with a small-sized Serpent type to get the stealth and Dex bonuses and a starting Climb movement mode. At later levels I arm him with a wand so that he can participate in combat actively when summoned, giving me yet another way to deal damage without putting myself in danger. Don't neglect the Aspect class feature of the Summoner which provides advantages that you enjoy even when it hasn't been summoned. I generally provide him with a bandoleer that contains chalk, masterwork thieve's tools, a tanglefoot bag, a couple of tinder twigs and eventually a wand of magic missiles or scorching ray. The first Attribute Bonus at 10th level goes to Charisma and the second at 20th goes to Constitution. Feats are Fleet (1st), Fleet (6th), Skill Focus: UMD (12th) and Skill Focus: Perception (18th). Evolution points by level: 1st - 3rd Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1) 4th/5th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1) 6th/7th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Winged Flight (2) 8th/9th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1), Winged Flight (2), Increased Dexterity (2) 10th/11th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1), Winged Flight (2), Increased Flight Speed (1), Improved Natural Armor x2 (2)* 12th/13th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1), Winged Flight (2), Increased Flight Speed (1), Increased Dexterity (2),Improved Natural Armor x2 (2)* 14th/15th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1), Winged Flight (2), Increased Flight Speed x2 (2), Increased Dexterity (2),Improved Natural Armor x2 (2)* 16th/17th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1), Wingless Flight (4), Increased Flight Speed x2 (2), Increased Dexterity (2),Improved Natural Armor x2 (2)* 18th/19th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1), Wingless Flight (4), Increased Flight Speed (1), Spell Resistance (4) Improved Natural Armor x2 (2)**, Spell Resistance (4)** 20th Skilled: Stealth (1), Skilled: Perception (1), Arms (1), Skilled: UMD (1), Skilled: Disable Device (1), Wingless Flight (4), Increased Flight Speed x3 (1), Spell Resistance (4), Immune to Electricity (2), Improved Natural Armor x2 (2)**, Spell Resistance (4)** * indicates Aspect abilities which apply to the Summoner rather than the Eidolon ** indicates Greater Aspect abilities which apply to the Summoner rather than the Eidolon Another option for Aspect other than Improved Natural Armor would be either immunity to a particular element or resistance to two of them for the same cost. Useful Equipment We play in a fairly low-magic campaign where magic items aren't quite as commonly available for sale or trade as it is in others, so I never pre-plan my character's magical equipment, but the upside of that is that this build is fairly self-contained and needs little assistance. Obviously Belts of Dexterity and Circlets of Charisma would be primary choices. Wands that can be used to cast attack spells, certain metamagic rods, Bracers and Amulets of Armor, the traditional Cloaks of Resistance are all great and you can usually afford more and better than other classes because you don't need to bother with magical weapons. How to Play I took Deadly Aim to help balance him out a little when dealing with things at range - remember, you can Smite with a bow too and not every situation allows you to close to melee range in order to get your full attack action. Find out if your GM allows the trait Opportunistic Gambler (an Adventure Path trait) because if so it will allow you to use Touch of Rage on yourself and have the effects linger for 1d4 rounds afterwards. Very potent, especially when dealing with non-evil foes. You might get some advice to take 'Quicken Spell-Like Ability' to use with Touch of Rage or Power of Giants, but I'd stay away from that controversy if I were you. I'd also stay away from Sacred Servant. The character background was a kid who grew up as an urchin on the streets, bigger and stronger than the others and forced to do what was necessary to survive (hence the Bully and Poverty Stricken traits), until he found God that is. Intimidate with Intimidating Prowess and Dreadful Carnage means that the first thing you kill will inflict the Shaken condition on everything on the battlefield for the rest of the fight. That's -2 to attacks and -2 to saves among other things every fight which can be very big and doesn't even cost you an action to perform. What he looks like at Level... Drawbacks